Local fighters seek PAL titles

Three area fighters will be among 44 boxers seeking trophies in a scheduled 22-bout final round of the PAL Amateur Boxing Tournament tonight at the PAL Hall in Fall River.

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By BOB HANNA

southcoasttoday.com

By BOB HANNA

Posted Sep. 28, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By BOB HANNA
Posted Sep. 28, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Three area fighters will be among 44 boxers seeking trophies in a scheduled 22-bout final round of the PAL Amateur Boxing Tournament tonight at the PAL Hall in Fall River.

Anthony Vieira of Wareham, representing "Sucra" Ray Oliveira's On Point team in New Bedford, and Johnny Giaobbi of the Heart Gym in New Bedford will compete in the Open Class finals, while Jason Lussier of Fairhaven and Wisher's Gym in Dartmouth goes after his second PAL Novice Class title.

Of special interest will be Vieira's bid for the 152-pound Open crown against Jelame Garcia of the Riveira Brothers Gym in Somerville (not Rasheed Ellis as was erroneously reported last week).

That won't make Vieira's task any easier as Garcia, like Ellis, impressed last week with a first-round TKO over Keenan Moses of the Big Six Boxing Club in Providence.

"He's tough," said Oliveira of Garcia, "It's going to be a good one."

What was supposed to be a tune-up for Vieira last week in a special non-tournament bout against Matthew Phinney of Peter Welch's gym in Boston turned into a second-round disqualification loss due to an ill-fitting mouthpiece that Vieira lost three times, which is an automatic disqualification.

Hopefully, Vieira, who looked sharp in his first tournament win over Jaylen Renard of Connecticut, has found a new, more comfortable mouthpiece for tonight's fight.

Giaobbi and Lussier will be making their first tournament appearances tonight. Giaobbi will face Louis Santiago of the Riveira gym in the 114-pound Open final, while Lussier takes on Johnny Rosa of Worcester in the 178-pound Novice final. Lussier won the 165-pound Novice title last year.

Also appearing in the Open Class championship finals tonight will be three former New England Golden Gloves champions — Jimmy Perella of Mansfield, who fights out of Manfredo's Gym in Pawtucket, and Sean Bettencourt and Gerald Schifone, both of Big East Boxing in Stoughton.

Perella, a sophomore at UMass Dartmouth, meets Travis Demko of Big East Boxing in the 141-pound final, while Schifine faces a stiff test in Ellis in the 165-pound final.

Bettencourt, who stopped Jean-Pierre Augustine of former heavyweight champion John Ruiz's Quiet Man Gym in Chelsea in the second round last week, takes on Raymond Perez of Worcester in the cruiserweight (201) finale.